"Where have you been, Yingying? Did you meet with some danger? Why didn’t you tell me?! Do you know how worried I was for you?" Scarlet District Mistress hurried toward her, releasing the umbrella girl only so she could cradle the girl’s long, cold hair between her fingers.
"I… I… was captured by… the black-robed man… who destroyed the headquarters. After that he… asked me… some questions, then released… me back," the umbrella girl murmured.
"Black-robed man? Do you know his identity?" The Mistress’s voice dropped, and a killing chill rippled in her eyes.
A small shake of the head. That was all Yingying could give.
"It’s alright. We’ll investigate slowly. Sooner or later, we’ll find a trail. Once I know who he is, I’ll swallow him alive!" the Mistress vowed, her tone edged with steel.
"Let’s… go home…" Yingying whispered. Her thoughts were tangled, knotted around the strange web still lodged within her body. She feared that if she spoke of it, her sister would discover Lu Sheng’s mark and rush into a danger she could not overcome.
The Mistress drew her close, a protective arm sealing around her shoulders. "I won’t leave you anymore in the future. I promise." The shard of the Scarlet Dragon Tribulation pulsed within her, a stolen ember of immense power. With it, and the cultivation method from that ancient book, she needed only a secluded place to seclude herself for a century and temper her strength.
"Let’s find a place to live together and ignore the mess outside. What say you, Yingying?"
Yingying answered with a soft hum, though her mind remained trapped inside the web that refused to disappear.
Then the Mistress remembered something and let out an awkward laugh. "Oh yes, it’s perfect that you’re back. I’m still terrible at rebuilding Scarlet District. I think it’s better if you take command. And I’ll need your help remaking all those red lanterns."
"Leave it to… Yingying…" The umbrella girl nodded gently.
"Oh, and… I’m preparing to pay Martial League a visit. I’ve found their temporary base. They keep shifting locations… slippery bunch, always running before anyone can pin them down." The Scarlet District Mistress’s expression darkened. "That Officiator from Ashoka Manor vanished while investigating them. If I’m right, the same person who killed the Officiator is the one who destroyed my headquarters. As long as I track down the Officiator’s killer, I’ll find the culprit behind all this."
"Sis District Mistress… is wise indeed…" Yingying replied, offering a soft, obedient smile.
"When the time comes, you can rest at home. No… better if you come with me. You’re too weak right now, and you need protection." The Mistress reached out and gently pinched Yingying’s cheeks.
"Mm… Yingying will listen… to you."
…………
The Crimson Whale drifted in quiet waters.
"To Martial League?" Lu Sheng murmured as he tore the black slip of paper between his fingers. The material was strange, unnaturally dark, its entire surface pitch-black while the characters glimmered in pale white.
Shredded fragments slipped through his grip, dissolving into black smoke before touching the deck. It was the umbrella girl’s secret message.
‘Troublesome… Too many in Martial League know I killed the Ashoka Manor Emissaries. It won’t be hard for them to assume I’m the culprit they’re chasing. Killing the Emissaries isn’t the same as killing the Officiator, but I’ll still become the target of an investigation.’
For someone of his standing, getting exposed for killing the Emissaries would only prompt Ashoka Manor to send assassins in the shadows. They would not dare confront him openly. Lu Sheng could always deny everything unless they caught him in the act. Without proof, no one could force guilt onto him.
He was not some nameless cultivator wandering without backing, nor one of those frail Exorcists that could be pushed aside without consequence. His strength was respectable, and Shangyang Jiuli valued him. The Shangyang Family’s influence eclipsed Ashoka Manor entirely. Even the Manor Lord treated Jiuli as an equal despite lacking a formal title.
‘Martial League, Martial League…’ Lu Sheng rose and paced the cabin, his footsteps quiet yet heavy with thought. ‘I’m still incubating my strength. My level hasn’t reached the Manor Lord’s, and there’s still distance between me and Ye Moling… even Scarlet District Mistress. Meeting any of them head-on would be unwise.’
He breathed out slowly. ‘And who knows how long this incubation will take? Even a prodigy like Shangyang Jiuli was trapped between the Bind and Snake realms for years. I doubt my breakthrough will come quickly.’
The gears of strategy turned in his mind.
Against ghosts, demons, or Noblemen, his true weapons were limited. Only his Yang-attribute inner Qi could wound them. And now… perhaps his Yin-attribute inner Qi as well.
Only inner Qi could truly wound beings that had stepped beyond nature. Hard body skills strengthened flesh, tendon, and bone, but no matter how powerful or quick or explosive they became, they could only absorb impact.
Still, those same skills could shield him from supernatural forces and lethal toxins, something inner Qi could never replace.
‘Since I can’t unleash inner Qi on a large scale for now, I’ll channel Yin Qi into hard body skills. The stronger my body becomes, the more it will support my inner Qi later. One day, I’ll have to invest Yin Qi into it anyway,’ Lu Sheng concluded.
“Men.” He rose.
Two guards entered at once.
“Greetings to Sect Master!”
“Bring me Song Zhenguo. And prepare my luggage,” Lu Sheng ordered before leaving the study and walking straight toward his sanctuary.
‘I need to settle this first. Once the investigation reaches Martial League, the Scarlet District Mistress and Ashoka Manor will inevitably shift their gaze toward me.’
Inside the sanctuary, he sat cross-legged and allowed silence to swallow his breath.
“Deep Blue.”
The pale-blue Modifier screen surfaced before him.
The interface had grown much cleaner. Although he had returned the three treasures after releasing the umbrella girl, he had already drained them of Yin Qi. Because of that, he now carried twenty units. Combined with the Yin Qi harvested from the ghosts and Anomalies in Scarlet District, his total had swelled to an unprecedented eighty units.
The moment he activated the Modifier, a dialogue box appeared.
“Begin martial arts extrapolation?”
“Yes.” Lu Sheng focused his mind on the Yang Extreme Dao row.
‘Now that I’ve stepped into the Nobleman circle, the risks of being exposed have increased. I need to strengthen myself before they notice anything.’ He pressed the button beside Yang Extreme Dao without hesitation.
A surge of Yin Qi vanished from within him, devoured as if by a void.
Szzzzzzzz!
His body expanded at once. The Yin Extreme Mode tore through his clothes as masses of twisted muscle and greenish-gray skin erupted outward, reshaping him into a towering five-meter titan.
Fortunately, the sanctuary had been constructed with towering height to accommodate weapon practice. Though called a sanctuary, it resembled a compact dojo, spacious enough to house even Lu Sheng’s current gigantic form.
"That’s comfortable… finally my body’s no longer bound…" Lu Sheng stretched, joints groaning like awakening stone. His silhouette resembled a massive figure with an overdeveloped upper body balanced atop two short, sturdy legs that looked barely adequate for supporting his explosive power.
His greenish gray skin had thickened into an armor-like layer. Two fleshy horns curled from his temples, one on each side. Since his skin tone was never human to begin with, the horns appeared more like hardened bull horns.
Most striking of all were the twin bulges of muscle rising from his back behind his arms. One glance revealed their purpose—auxiliary muscles to amplify his arm strength. On an ordinary person, those muscles existed in modest form. On Lu Sheng, they were two colossal spheres of power.
"Hoo…" A long breath escaped him.
‘Yang Extreme Mode is the true shape of my body. It’s the state where every muscle is released without restraint. Yin Extreme Mode and my normal form are simply compressed versions created through hard body skills that force the body to shrink. Neither is my natural state.’ He opened his palms, feeling Qi and blood circulate freely with no obstruction.
Yin Qi continued draining at an alarming pace. More than thirty units had already vanished when a sharp, needling pain pierced his back.
"Argh…"
He bent forward, sweat streaming from every pore.
Staggering toward a hidden drawer, he retrieved a water bag and poured the contents into his mouth. The cool liquid replenished what his transformation had stolen.
Time slipped by. At last, the drain on his Yin Qi slowed to a stop. Altogether, the transformation had consumed nearly forty units.
Lu Sheng felt the pain in his back intensifying, his spine arching as if something inside him clawed for release.
RIP!
A white bone spike tore through his back.
Straight as a carved rod and sharp enough to slice light itself, the spike glimmered under the fire’s glow.
Another spike followed. Then another.
One after another, bone spears erupted from his back until ten pale white spikes stood fully formed, each one as straight and lethal as a drawn blade.
They emerged in a ring, shaping a radial disk across Lu Sheng’s back. At its center lay his most vulnerable point, now covered by a dense black bone plate—the core from which all ten spikes radiated outward.
He resembled a monstrous titan bearing a bone disk on his back. His face and neck had lost all human outline; thick black cuticle had formed over his cheeks, enclosing his features in a helmet-like shell.
‘It’s stopped…’
After an unknowable stretch of time, Lu Sheng slowly rose and straightened his body. The agony finally receded.
Reaching behind him, he brushed the bone spikes. Their edges were so long and sharp they extended beyond the length of his own body.
He turned his gaze toward the Modifier interface.
Yang Extreme Dao: Grade Two Yang Extreme Mode formed.
Special Effect(s): Amplified Strength Level Nine, Reinforced Defence Level Seven, Anti-Tremor Level Six, Scorch Level Two…
‘All special effects increased by one level on average. Forty units of Yin Qi… an abysmal return…’ Lu Sheng frowned.
Gathering so much Yin Qi had not been easy, yet once again he found himself nearly empty.
But his frustration eased when he reached the final special effect—a new addition that made the entire investment worthwhile.
Special Effect(s): Fiery Blood.
Lu Sheng’s focus settled over it, prompting its description to unfurl.
“Extreme activation. Intensifies the aggressive devouring nature of cells and blood, granting resistance against nearly all viruses and germs. Their heightened activation produces exceptional resistance to toxins and poison. If introduced into another organism, they cause violent repulsion. Simultaneously, this special effect induces activation within inner Qi.”
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